Generations Collide
by Cronosonic
Summary: When Mega Man X appears during a battle between the original Mega Man and Bass by accident, of course , it's only the beginning. Several more Mega Men appear! What's going on, and how will the world cope with the new threats that come with it?
1. Chapter 1: Template of Reploids, X

_**Generations Collide  
By Cronosonic**_

_**Author's Notes: **_Now, this is a rather unusual type of story for me. Normally, I'd be doing fics of crossovers between different series. Oddly enough, I can't tell if this is a crossover or not – it's a crossover of sub-series, but it's still Mega Man.

_**Chapter 1: Template of Reploids, X**_

"Why won't you die, you stupid blue prick?!"

Bass roared, flying high above, having fused with Treble earlier, as he angrily rained plasma shots all over the battlefield, in hopes that at least ONE would actually hit Mega Man. Unfortunately for him, none of these shots actually hit, thanks to the Blue Bomber's agility. Mega Man rolled, ducked, and slid to avoid the blasts of death raining down from the sky. They were close shaves, but Mega Man was keeping a level head. Bass, instead, was getting more and more frustrated by the minute. Mega just needed a chance to catch Bass unawares with a charged shot. But it seemed Bass was definitely not going to let his guard down for even a second, and his constant stream of buster shots were not giving Mega a chance to even aim properly.

Bass suddenly swooped down low with surprising speed, putting his boosters on full power, almost touching the ground by mere centimetres, before rocketing towards Mega Man, and slamming into him. The robot was barely able to react, before Bass grabbed onto him, boosting towards a large boulder. _**WHAM.**_ The sheer force destroyed the boulder, but Mega Man took most of the damage. Bass was laughing, as he grabbed the back of his enemy, smashed him into the side of the nearby cliff face, and proceeded to fly upwards diagonally, dragging Mega Man along the cliff face in a rather brutal manner.

From here, one should note that the two robots were fighting on a coastal area, but on a rather rocky battlefield as opposed to a beach.

Mega Man screamed in agony, as his front was constantly grinding against the wall, gradually gaining some serious damage. Once Bass ran out of surface to grind Mega Man against, boosted at top speed towards the ground.

The results were not pretty.

The resulting smash created a rather crude crater, and leaving Mega Man rather damaged. He tried to hoist himself onto his feet, but Bass kicked him back down. "Oh, no you don't. I'm not letting YOU get back up again!"

Bass armed his buster, and prepared a charged shot. A sadistic grin came over his face, as his foot pinned Mega Man to the ground. "Just wait, it'll all be over, and I'll finally be rid of you!"

Of course, even in his excitement, he couldn't have possibly have missed the rather large cracks that were appearing in the rocking surface that the two were on. This was not a good sign. "What the f-"

_**BOOM. **_ A massive burst of pressure erupted from the rocky surface, blowing both robots sky-high. Bass roared in annoyance, as Mega Man hit the ground, on his back this time, and was able to recover. Both robots could tell that the pressure burst came from underneath the rocks, and it definitely wasn't natural. Bass roared, "Who the hell wants to interfere with MY fight with Mega Man?!"

A white hand burst out from the water that was gushing from the crater. Mega Man rushed over, and grabbed it, trying to pull the stranger out of the water, much to Bass' disbelief and disgust. The blue figure that emerged from the water choked, as he tried to get a good grip on the rocks. Mega Man stared in disbelief. This guy looked exactly like _him, _except older! And more advanced, to boot! The stranger looked up at Mega Man, chuckling. "Thanks."

"Don't mention-LOOK OUT!"

Mega Man suddenly noticed Bass fired his charged shot. It seemed Bass was getting annoyed, and wanted to catch them both off guard. Mega Man jumped up, holding his arms to block, in order to take the shot. Naturally, he was blasted back, in a worse state than before. The stranger looked on in shock. He looked up at Bass. "HEY! Why'd you do that?!"

"You need a reason? You were both distracted. Well, I'll finish him off after I take you out as well! What I hate more than Mega Man... Is TWO Mega Men!"

The stranger emerged out fully, getting on his legs, and suddenly firing off a charged shot. Bass barely dodged it, and he was shocked by the size of it. "Where'd you get a buster THAT powerful?! Alright, no more Mr. Nice Guy! You can't hit me while I'm airborne, I'm too quick and too far away for you to hit me!"

The stranger smiled, as he suddenly dashed towards the cliff face. "Perhaps, but if we take the distance issue away..."

Bass begun firing upon his new opponent with rapid-fire shots. He was impressed by the stranger's speed. Not even Mega Man was this fast. As soon as he reached the cliff face, Bass was confident that he was cornered.

Right up until what he thought was impossible, immediately occurred. The guy was doing wall-jumps up the cliff face. In a triangle formation! Bass choked, as he kept firing, despite his opponent's speed constantly out-manoeuvring the shots. "What the heck?! That's impossible!"

"Not really. It's a clever use of leg boosters, really – with them, I'm able to constantly jump off the wall, boost towards it again, and repeat!"

Bass grinned. This guy WAS good! Maybe he could practice this trick sometime... However, he suddenly found himself in a rather sticky spot, when the stranger leapt off the wall with enough force to not only get HIGHER than Bass, but he also had gotten to that altitude with incredible speed. At this point, Bass found himself staring down the barrel of the stranger's buster. And he had been charging up the whole time.

"Aw, crap."

A massive blast sent Bass crashing into the rocks below. Bass had been left in a crater, having sustained too much damage to continue being fused with Treble, whom was lying beside him. The stranger landed, and walked towards Bass, who was slowly getting up, despite the damage that last strike had inflicted on him. "Darn it... Who ARE you?"

"My name is X. That is all you need to know."

Bass chuckled. "Well, said, _X... _Next time, I won't underestimate you. You hear me? Come on, Treble!"

Treble growled at X, before the two robots teleported away. X sighed, as he turned towards Mega Man, who was getting up. "Is that guy ALWAYS like that?"

Mega Man smiled, as he stumbled over to X. "Yeah, I guess... Looks like I should be thanking you, now."

"Anyone who would take a buster shot for me... I should be thanking you again, but let's forget about that. Who are you?"

Mega Man chuckled, as he extended his hand. "My name's Mega Man. Nice to meet you, X! I bet Dr. Light would REALLY like to meet you!"

X suddenly choked. "Dr. Light?!"

"Yeah. I know he's famous and all-"

"That's not the point, is he alive?!"

"Of course!"

"What year is it?"

"20XX."

X took a deep breath, and scratched his chin. "If that's the case, then... Did that accident send me back in time...?"

Mega Man was rather confused. "Back... In time? Wait, don't tell me... You're from the future?!"

X grabbed Mega Man by the shoulders. "I think so! I need to see Dr. Light, immediately!"

--

Outside that rather humble abode that was the Light residence, the old doctor himself was helping Roll tend to the front garden. Dr. Light heard the sound of a teleportation, and immediately went up to the front gate to see. Indeed, Mega Man walked up to him, looking rather cheerful as expected. "I'm back! Bass is out of our hair for now, but this guy wants to talk to you!"

Dr. Light chuckled, as he looked up at the figure behind Mega Man. "Why, hello there. I'm-"

Then his eyes widened. He had never expected to see X standing there. "You..."

X smiled. "I suppose you've already recognized me? I'm Mega Man X. You created me."

Once inside the house, and when Roll had made Dr. Light a cup of tea, the doctor was still rather shocked. "This is a surprise... To see my prototype, walking about and completed..."

Mega Man asked, "Who is he?"

"Alright, I guess I had to tell you someday... Mega Man X is a secret project I am currently working on. The aim? To create a robot that has such an advanced brain, it cannot be distinguished from a human's. A robotic mind that can truly think for itself, without the three laws guiding it. Look, Mega Man, I'm sure you might feel that-"

Mega Man smiled. "Don't worry, dad. I'm not worried about X replacing me. He's my little brother, and a good guy. That's good enough for me."

X laughed. "Besides, I wouldn't want my big bro getting jealous!"

Roll added, "He's a new generation, but he's still part of our family, all the same."

Dr. Light immediately felt VERY relieved about this. "Thank heavens... Still, as I understand it, there is the problem of you being in the wrong time period, which is a far more pressing matter."

X nodded, as he explained, "I was with my team-mates, fighting this Maverick whom had gotten his hands on a rather powerful cannon with a powerful, but unstable power source. Naturally, you can tell what happened next."

Dr. Light immediately asked, "Indeed, but can you explain some things, such as the term 'Maverick'?"

"Certainly. In my time, when I was found, the scientist who found me, Dr. Cain, used me as a 'template' to create a new series of machines. Reploids. Things went smoothly for a time, until Reploids began defecting, and trying to cause violence. We call these Reploids 'Mavericks', and I am part of the organization known as the Maverick Hunters, and I guess you can figure out what we do from there."

Mega Man inquired, "Why do Mavericks go... Well... Maverick?"

"Many reasons. Program errors, short circuits in the electronic brain... The very things that give Reploids our advanced processing power can also be our greatest weakness. Another prime cause is the Sigma Virus, which I might explain later. Other Mavericks are just plain nuts."

Dr. Light sighed. "It seems that, the Reploid brain isn't quite a perfect replica of yours, X... No offense to Dr. Cain intended. But then again, expecting perfection is just asking for trouble."

"Well, Dr. Cain was more of an archaeology expert... But the defects are rare these days. The maverick virus is the main cause, usually. Still, I need to get back to my own time. Do you have any ideas?"

Dr. Light sat back in his chair, scratching his chin. "It will definitely take time for me to properly plan out such a device. I'll need Time Man's help on this one. Shame, the robot masters are on a shopping trip. We could get started right now if they were here..."

X shook his head. "It's fine, really. It's rather quiet with mavericks these days. Besides, I want some time to properly get to know the family I had never known, until now..."

Roll immediately handed X a broom. "Well, in that case, we need to get to work cleaning the lab! It's getting a little messy!"

"Why me?!"

Mega Man's armor disappeared, changing into his more casual orange shirt and shorts, complete with black hair. "I'll help, too."

X laughed, as he checked out the broom. "Well... It's a change from shooting things, at least. And I thought my friends were odd!"

--

X later noticed that Mega Man had disappeared. Wondering why, X searched the entire house for him, until he spotted his brother on the roof, sitting down. "Hey, Rock! What are you doing up there?"

Mega Man sighed, as X jumped up. "X... How bad ARE the mavericks?"

"Well, they used to be pretty nasty. I remember fighting eight major rebellions... All of them instigated by Sigma... He used to be the leader of the Maverick Hunters, until..."

Mega Man's mind clicked into place. He understand how X's time was. "It happened again, didn't it?"

"Huh?"

"Eight times... Wily was even more persistent. Even after my time, nothing changes... And after I fought so hard, too!"

X sat down next to Mega Man smiling. "It can't be helped. To expect the complete eradication of violence so easily is asking a bit much, don't you think? But as long as we try to push for peace, it'll all come together..."

Mega Man smiled. "Thanks, bro..."

_**To Be Continued**_

--

_**Author's Notes: **_Believe me, I couldn't end on a stranger note. And this actually isn't the only Mega Man-based fic idea I have... The other one crosses over with Sonic, but it's Sonic crossed over with Mega Man X, with a twist! And the third is a bit of a "what-if" with Bass in the universe of the Ruby-Spears cartoon! Sounds awesome in my head, I'm just trying to figure out how to make it work, story-wise.

_**In the next chapter:**_

When Mega Man thought these new turn of events couldn't get any stranger, he encounters Lan Hikari and Mega Man.EXE, whom have somehow crossed over dimensions! And when the psychotic Vile shows up to wreak havoc, will Lan's Net-Navi actually be able to help?


	2. Chapter 2: The NetNavi, Hub

_**Author's Notes: **_I haven't played any of the Mega Man Battle Network games in a LONG time (Though Star Force has kinda renewed my interest, ALMOST finished BN3), so I apologize for any inconsistencies that may occur.

Edited for a particular reason I forgot to rectify

_**Chapter 2: The NetNavi, Hub**_

"And why are we going shopping, again?"

X scanned the shopping mall, as he, Mega Man and Roll were walking through the local shopping mall. X was, for once, wearing casual clothing, a nice blue shirt and a pair of jeans. The wind licked at his black hair. Roll giggled, as she lead the pack, "Well, how often do you go out into public just for the heck of it?"

"Good point."

Before they could go on a shopping spree, however, Roll immediately noticed a boy with brown hair, wearing a blue headband with a rather unique symbol on it. He also sported an orange top and black pants with yellow stripes on the sides. Roll joked, "He's pretty cute, isn't he?"

Naturally, neither Mega Man took notice. As the boy walked past, he spoke something that Mega Man overheard. "Are you SURE you can't figure out where we are, MegaMan?"

Mega Man turned around. "Uh... Did that kid just say my name?"

Roll and X turned around as well. X noticed a strange blue device that the kid was holding, with a grip for the right hand. He couldn't quite identify what was on the screen, though. "I think we should follow him. I don't think he was talking to any of us... But I have NEVER seen that device before."

And so, they followed the youth, in a rather sneaky fashion... Right until they reached a street corner, and a mysterious voice pointed out, "Lan, those three have been following you for the last five minutes."

Lan looked behind him, immediately catching the three bots in the stalking act. "Okay, who are you guys, and why are you stalking me?!"

Mega Man sighed. "Look, sorry about that, but... Did you say 'Mega Man' before? That, and we have never seen that device before..."

Lan chuckled, as he showed them the device he carried. "Oh, this? This is my PET, short for 'Personal Terminal', which I'm pretty sure everyone has... I think. Also, I was talking to my NetNavi, MegaMan.EXE!"

The three bots stared in disbelief, as a rather stylish version of Mega Man was displayed on the screen. "Heya! I'm MegaMan.EXE, Lan Hikari's NetNavi!"

The bots looked at each other... Before pushing Lan straight into a nearby alleyway. X asked, "How did you get here?"

Lan replied, "Look, something freakish happened at Sci-Labs, and we ended up here in a flash... We don't know where we are, either!"

Mega Man nodded. "Yep, definitely an alternate universe version."

"What are you talking about?!"

Suddenly, Mega Man and X changed their attires to their armors, much to the shock of both Lan and MegaMan.EXE. Lan blinked. "You're... Both... Mega Man?"

Roll giggled, "Mega Man and Mega Man X. We're robot siblings. I'm Roll, by the way."

"ROLL?! Mayl is going to SO freak out when she hears about this!"

"Huh?"

"Oh, sorry, let me explain. Mayl is a friend of mine, and her NetNavi is Roll.EXE! She looks a lot like you, too!"

"Wow, really?!"

Mega Man noted, "I think we should get back to Dr. Light, before we continue this conversation."

--

"I'm actually surprised you came at the conclusion you did. You must be watching too many Sci-Fi shows..."

Dr. Light sighed, as he looked at Lan, who was sitting near him at the table. Lan remarked, "Funny, you look a lot like my grandfather!"

"Oh, that's interesting. Maybe your version of me was an expert on the internet and communications, not robotics..."

"Actually, he was! Wily, on the other hand..."

The name perked Light's interest. "Oh? So your version of Wily tried to work with robots as well?"

"Yeah... Let's just say he didn't get far. He went for a life of crime, wanting revenge on my family for something he blamed my grandfather for, but I eventually managed to show him the error of his ways."

"AH-HEM!"

MegaMan.EXE wasn't looking too happy about that. Lan laughed sheepishly, "Yeah, MegaMan kinda did half of the work."

Mega Man was sitting next to Lan, and nudged him on the shoulder. "You're lucky. Our Wily is still going at it!"

Dr. Light noted, "Quite remarkable, these 'NetNavis'... I assume your father made MegaMan for you?"

"Yeah... Well, MegaMan.EXE is special. He's my twin brother."

Everyone was taken by surprise by this revelation. Lan explained, "My twin brother was called Hub. He got an extremely rare heart condition that would have killed him... At the time, my dad was working on the 'perfect navi'. He theorised that combining human DNA with modern technology would create one that could fully sync with its creator, though he hadn't succeeded yet. When Hub was about to die, dad used his DNA, converted into data, to create the first perfect Custom Navi. That's when MegaMan.EXE..."

Roll grinned, "You two must share an incredible bond! Still... Why don't you call him 'Hub' around us, now, since there's already two other Mega Men right here?"

Hub laughed, "Sounds good to me!"

Lan raised an eyebrow. "By the way, what exactly is the story with you guys, anyway?"

Dr. Light took a sip of his coffee. "I'll explain. To summarise... Dr. Wily was my former partner, we worked on creating robots to help humanity. Our first creation, Proto Man, or Blues, as we called him, ran away. After some heated arguments, Wily and I managed to create Rock and Roll."

MegaMan.HUB chuckled. "Rock, Roll, Blues... You love naming things after musical terms, huh?"

Lan sighed. "It's not so different from dad calling me "Lan" and you "Hub", right? See the connection?"

"Oh, right... Go on."

Dr. Light continued. "Somewhere along the line, Wily went insane. He believed I was taking the credit for all our hard work. Eventually, he snapped. He stole the eight robot masters that we created, but left Rock and Roll behind. Big mistake. Rock volunteered to be modified into a fighting robot to combat Wily. I was initially against his decision, but he insisted, and I gave in. Rock, now Mega Man, would go on to defeat Wily countless times..."

X then explained his origins and the state of his time. Lan sat back, amazed. "I can't believe it... All this is amazing! Incredible how such a small difference can make between alternate realities..."

Light then noted, "Yes, but now a dimensional transporter is on the agenda as well. Maybe a two-in-one device might help things. Goodness knows who else may appear..."

Suddenly, an alarm blared, and Dr. Light rushed over to a nearby computer. "Oh, dear! Something is causing havoc in the city!"

Mega Man and X both said, at the same time, "We'll stop it!"

Hub groaned, "Good luck. Like we'll be of any help at this rate..."

Dr. Light grabbed Lan's arm, as the two robots teleported out. "Actually, there is something that you might be able to use..."

--

Mega Man and X appeared in the wrecked street, where they saw a figure, obviously their target. This character had green armor all over, with a t-visor on, and a shoulder cannon. X armed his buster. "VILE! How'd he get here?"

Vile turned around, noting the two that had come to stop him. "Hello, X. I knew you were around here somewhere, but I needed to draw you out, and here you are!"

"Stop fooling around, and fight us!"

Vile fired an energy shot which both Mega Men dodged, but Vile had clearly used this as a decoy shot, as he hit X with a series of rapid-fire shots. Mega Man fired a charged shot, but the damage to Vile was limited at best. Vile followed up by hitting X with a stun shot, and blasted Mega Man into the pavement, before shooting X as well. "I've caught on to your tactics, X! This time, a little strategy will best you!"

X hit a wall, damaged, but he dashed over at Vile, firing a charged shot. Vile jumped into the air, firing at X again with a few homing ice shots, but also dropping an explosive, where he predicted X would dodge. He was lucky, X was caught in the explosion, and was damaged a bit more, right as Vile came down and kicked him in the face, as X was hit by the homing shots. "Heh heh... Zero ain't here to save you this time!"

"But I am! M-CANNON!"

Vile was hit in the back by a powerful projectile. He turned around, looking for his attacker. Hub was standing there, having used one of his battle chips. X didn't bother asking why, he simply took advantage of Vile's distraction and blasted him in the back. Vile roared in pain, as he dashed away, and fired off a charged shot at Hub, who activated a barrier chip. The shot slammed into the barrier, nullifying both. Hub wasted no time arming his Hero Sword chip, and dashing at Vile, striking at him. Vile was heavily damaged by that last attack, and he barely rolled to avoid X and Mega Man's next shots. "Darn it, this wasn't what I was expecting. X, I swear it, I'll tear you apart someday!"

As Vile teleported out, X remarked, "And the day that happens, Satan will be skiing to work."

Hub walked up to them, laughing. "That went well. Vile is a tough customer."

Mega Man noted, "Why are you... Well, like that?"

"It's simple. Let's just say he's my guinea pig for a "hard-hologram" device I've been working on."

Dr. Light walked over, with Lan right behind him. "At his center, Hub's hologram is controlled by a special core. What you see now is a mix of energies that make themselves in a physical object. Hub can move around in the physical world like us, but his strength and durability is retained."

Lan noted, "Like a CopyBot in our world, except different!"

Dr. Light nodded. "Yes... Though, I could make a body that's more 'physical', without having to rely on the hologram device. Regardless, let's go home."

--

"You see, Rock? If Lan and Hub could stop their Wily's ambitions for good, I'm sure our world can have a bright future as well!"

X put his hand on his brother's shoulder, as the group had dinner together. Lan was starving, and got right into it. Hub couldn't eat, but he was laughing at his brother's gluttony. The mood was then killed by a mysterious whistle that came out of nowhere. Mega Man smiled. "Blues!"

Indeed, the red robot, Proto Man teleported into the doorway. "Hey. I thought I might drop in, and-"

He looked around, and he could barely believe his eyes, as he saw three Mega Men in the room. He turned around. "Okay, that's it, I'm outta here."

"Wait, you're this world's Proto Man? You're way cooler than Chaud's navi!"

Proto Man stopped in his tracks from hearing Lan's comment, and turned around. "Okay, maybe this'll be interesting, but can someone tell me WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

After Proto Man was updated on the whole thing, he crossed his arms. "Wonderful. We have a super-advanced robot from the future and a kid with an internet version of Rock from another dimension. How can this NOT get any weirder?"

Lan sighed. "Not much different from Protoman.EXE besides the cool intro, I see..."

"That's not our problem. The problem is getting you guys back where you belong?"

"Then why don't you help us?"

Proto Man froze. "Well... I guess you put up a good point. Alright, I'll help, but only until you're back where you belong, and then I'm outta here!"

Lan whispered to Mega Man, "Stubborn, much?"

"That's just how Blues is."

X interrupted, "But it's late. Let's spend our time working on a solution tomorrow."

Light agreed. "Considering we have two humans here now, that's more of a necessity. I just hope we can uncover a solution..."

--

"UNBELIEVEABLE! Two more Mega Men have appeared?!"

Dr. Wily paced around the main room of his new fortress. Bass was off in the corner, looking equally pissed off. "A future guy and a digital freak! What could be worse..."

"In any case, they need to be eliminated! ELIMINATED, I SAY!"

"And I could help you with this dilemma of yours..."

Dr. Wily looked to the shadows, where a voice boomed. "Who's there?"

Bass remarked, "Your defences must be really terrible this time around."

"Oh, shut up, Bass!"

A figure emerged from the shadows, floating in midair. He looked rather regal in his life-support suit. He had no legs. The most imposing of his figure was the cone that surrounded his head, filled with an unknown liquid. The figure's head showed that of a very old man. "I too, hail from a distant future. But I am not your enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and that is you. My name is Dr. Weil."

Bass groaned, "Another nutjob with the W insignia..."

Wily snapped, "Bass, this is no way to treat a guest! Anyways, Weil... It seems we are both apples from the same tree. What do you have in mind?"

"I can provide you with much technology... And I can help you with your little pet project, 'Zero'."

Both doctors laughed at the prospect happily, as Bass silently left the room. "I don't like this at all..."

_To Be Continued_

_**Next Chapter: **_Out of nowhere, the reploid Zero and his companion, Ciel, appear seemingly out of nowhere. X discovers this is not the same Zero he knows. How will the Maverick Hunter be able to come to terms with his inevitable fate, and his friend's almost cold personality?


	3. Chapter 3: The Legend, Zero

_**Chapter 3: The Legend, Zero**_

"Just typical. A guy in armor shows up in town, and starts causing a ruckus."

Mega Man sighed, as he, X, Lan and Hub made their way to the site of a disturbance. X pointed out, "But this one apparently isn't attacking anyone. He's just been identified as suspicious, that's all. The authorities just want us to check things out."

They knew they were getting there, when they found a crowd of people watching a pair of people walking along. X took a closer look, and couldn't believe his eyes. "Zero?!"

The red reploid that X had identified as 'Zero' looked over at X. "So we are in the past..."

A human girl right next to him, with blonde hair and a rather cute pink outfit, noticed as well. "So if the original X is here, then... How far have we travelled into the past?"

Zero walked over to X, his grim expression refusing to change. X noticed something odd. This Zero wasn't quite the same. He looked more… Human. He wasn't wearing any real armor. "Wait... You look like Zero, but..."

"I know. Can you take Ciel and I to a place where we can talk without so much attention?"

Lan asked, "What's going on here?"

Zero stared the boy in the eyes, which gave Lan a chill down his spine. "Explanations will come later."

X nodded. "Follow us."

--

"Oh, that's just great. A Zero from even FURTHER into the future, and I'm dead!" X tried to get a grip on what Zero had just told him. Mega Man tried to calm him down, while Dr. Light decided to converse with Ciel. "So you were the one to create a perfect copy of X? I'm extremely impressed. Though, it is strangely ironic that this one would become so easily conceited and manipulated..."

Ciel nodded. "I know, Dr. Light. I couldn't predict what would happen..."

"No, it's not your fault. I was fortunate to introduce a 30-year ethics program during X's sleep. Now I have no regrets... Goodness knows what would've happened if I didn't."

Ciel smiled, as she offered, "I can help you with that device you're working on, after all, Zero and I need to get back to our time as well."

"Oh, you're too kind. Your skills will be extremely valuable, Dr. Ciel. "

X was now sitting on the couch. Zero was in the corner. "X, there was nothing I could do. It was your decision to use your body to seal the Dark Elf, not mine."

"I know, but… Oh, well. I can see the bright side… Now I can change the future."

Zero didn't look any happier, as he walked away. "I don't know… Fate has its way of playing tricks."

Lan watched Zero walk away, and crossed his arms. "Man, what's up with his attitude? X, since when did you become friends with HIM?"

X shook his head. "That's not the same Zero I know. Zero was a lot more of a nice guy. He wasn't really like this."

Mega Man noted, "Time can do these things to you."

--

Zero was simply standing out the front of the house, standing guard. Last thing he wanted, was to cause any more trouble for the others. The whole thing, he didn't like one bit. So he figured that standing guard might be the only useful thing he could do around here.

But the whistling was beginning to annoy him.

He looked up at the roof, to see Proto Man, whistling away. Zero's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

"Robot Master model DRN-000, Proto Man. But my friends call me Blues. You're Zero, if what I overheard is right."

"Uh-huh. Can you stop whistling? It's irritating me."

"Oh, sure. I'm the only one in the entire series who CAN whistle, you know. I betcha you can't, either."

Zero, out of sheer annoyance, pulled out his buster, and fired. Proto Man simply responded by raising his shield. The buster shot simply bounced off harmlessly. "You've got a short fuse, huh? Really, for someone so far in the future, I would think you'd be able to fire better shots."

Zero turned back around, putting the gun away. "Leave."

"Oh, please. Like you have any authority here."

Roll was standing right outside the door, looking rather annoyed at Zero's attitude. "This is the house of Dr. Light, nobody tells anyone to leave except him."

Zero was silent. Roll took a few steps forward, asking, "Are you just used to getting your way all the time?"

That time, Zero responded. "It's the way I've worked. I just have an utter contempt for authority. They simply sit on their asses while I'm the one fighting mavericks."

"Maybe it's because you're the only one who can fight?"

"Usually."

"What about that Ciel girl…?"

"She's a good friend. She does what she can to help."

Roll made an evil grin. "Oh, so you like her…?"

Zero's eye twitched, as his head turned. "Not like that. That would be absurd. I've never been in that kind of relationship…"

X suddenly poked his head out a nearby window. "What about Iris?"

Upon hearing the word 'Iris', Zero looked like his head just snapped. He turned completely around, and roared, "DAMMIT, X! Please, don't remind me!"

"Iris? What happened to her?"

Now it was Ciel and Dr. Light who had come right out the front. Ciel was looking concerned. Zero groaned. "Iris… She was a reploid from Repliforce, which served to compliment the Maverick Hunters. She was also the brother of a higher-up in Repliforce, Colonel. He was a rival of mine at the time. When Repliforce rebelled… It all went so horribly wrong. I ended up killing Colonel, and Iris attacked me… I still remember her, dead in my arms… It was all my fault…"

Tears were streaming down his face, understandably. Everyone was silent. Because they didn't know what to say. That is, until Ciel walked over, and hugged him. "Zero… Your friends are here. There's no need to cry… Iris and her brother are in a better place. This is what I believe…"

Zero didn't say anything, grabbing on to Ciel, brushing his hand through her hair. "Ciel… Thank you…"

Now everyone was outside. Lan gasped, "It's hard to believe what he's been through…"

"Zero? Crying? Now this is a first!"

Zero let go of Ciel, as he turned around, arming his buster. Three figures stood on the other side of the gate, with differentiating colours, green, orange and blue respectively. Their outfits were stylish, but practical for combat. The only girl was the blue one. Zero's eyes narrowed. "Harpunia, Fefnir, Leviathan… What are you doing here?"

Harpunia locked eyes with Zero. "Like you, we're trying to figure that one out. You came through a freak portal, right?"

X suddenly dashed up, right up to Zero's side, pointing his buster. "Who are you three?"

Harpunia suddenly gasped, and bowed toward X, much to the Mega Man's bewilderment. "Master X, I-"

Leviathan wacked Harpunia over the head with her halberd. "You fool, that's not Master X! That's the original!"

"I don't care, honestly. Didn't we agree that the original X was better than the copy?"

Zero noted to X, "These are the Guardians who served under Copy X. There was another, but he's long gone."

X put away his buster, nodding. "In that case… Are you three willing to follow my orders?"

Fefnir remarked, "We've got no real purpose in life these days, anyway. If Harpunia is willing, I guess we will…"

"I'm not going to make you follow my every whim. But I DO have one request. Find the maverick known as Vile. I want you to eliminate him. Normally, I would be more lenient in my punishments, but Vile has done more than enough damage."

Harpunia smiled. "A maverick? This should be interesting."

Fefnir grinned. "Vile? If he's eluded you guys for so long, this'll be fun!"

Leviathan sighed. "Boys… Well, who am I to complain?"

They all teleported out. There was a strange silence among everyone. Hub pointed out, "You know, that was way too easy. I was expecting a fight."

Ciel noted, "I think we should be glad that we've avoided a fight. Fighting has cost us all too much."

Dr. Light nodded. "Agreed. Now, how about we al go back inside? We've got work to do."

--

"What's this? A pole?"

Bass balanced the strange, pole-like object on his hand. He could tell it had a lot of complicated electronics inside it. Yet, it was extremely durable. It was at least three meters long when fully extended, but was practically ten centimetres long when all slid into its portable form. Weil had made it, and he was looking very eager. "It's more than that, Bass. Think of it as a gift. It's a very versatile weapon. It is tuned with your electronic brain. Try swinging it like a sword, and think of it as such."

Bass extended the pole to about a meter, and swung. A purple energy surrounded the pole, as it came down, and was still there after it stopped. Bass tried something else, stabbing like a spear in the air. The tip of the pole was covered by an energy that formed into a spear point. This was getting interesting. His further experiments excited him. An axe. A dual-sided saber. Any weapon that was actually possible with the pole, he could command the energies in it to take that shape. As well, he noticed that said energies would move away when close to Bass' body, which removed any chance of self-damage. Weil was being sincere in his offer; this was indeed a versatile weapon.

Weil clapped, as Bass swung his new weapon around skilfully, experimenting with the different styles he could take advantage of. "Magnificent, Bass! You have incredible potential, that fool Wily never tried to help you fully realise that potential. You just needed something to compliment your skills. Something to give you an edge over Mega Man."

Bass slammed his new weapon into the floor. "For once, I am actually complimented by a scientist… Make no mistake, Weil, there's something about you I don't like, but you have earned at least some of my respect. What shall I call this…? The 'Fortissimo'?"

"A wonderful name. It may even strike fear into the hearts of your enemies! Now, before he left on his little trip, Wily asked me to tell you that he wants you to take out a Maverick that could damage our plans. His name is Vile."

Bass growled, recognizing that game. "Vile…! I'm not dense! That guy was beating X, before! How can I even hope to destroy him?"

Weil smirked. "True, but you have the Fortissimo, don't you? It's a very powerful weapon, I put much care into making it as best for you as possible. Its strength lies not in its power, but its versatility, and unpredictability. Vile has no short-ranged weapons. You have both types. You have the advantage."

Bass nodded, and walked away.

Soon enough, Bass had made sure to perform a full check on the Fortissimo. Nothing malicious in the programs inside the weapon, nor was the weapon itself designed in a way that could be bad for him further down the track. So Weil, despite seeming quite insane, had no bad intentions when it came to the weapon. It hadn't hurt to be damn sure, though.

Bass held the Fortissimo tightly, inspecting it one last time, before he would leave to try and track down Vile. The weapon glowed, as he held it, and for a few seconds, it changed into purple flames. This gave him a strange feeling of familiarity, though he had no idea what it was. But he felt… Calm. As if another person was there to support him.

But he cast away that thought. Impossible. There was nobody he needed by his side, except Treble. He could fight on his own. He was more than capable of that. He patted Treble on the head. "We've got one hell of a fight before us, Treble."

The wolf barked in agreement. But despite that, he'd stay by the side of his master, no matter what. It was the only way of life he knew.

That's when they both teleported out.

_To Be Continued_

--

_**Author's Notes: **_Ooooooooooohhh, foreshadowing!

Okay, in the Zero series, it bothered me how 'cold' Zero was. The X series version was a lot more cheerful, though this doesn't stop him from being the resident badass. Thus, I decided to 'lampshade' it. Granted, he pulled off that 'crowning moment of awesome' in Zero 4 against Weil, but Zero has a habit of doing that a lot.

Anyways, don't expect a new Mega Man in the next chapter. I'm devoting that one to one hell of a brawl.

_**Next Chapter:**_

Bass, with his new weapon, quickly tracks down Vile, but the three Guardians also show up to eliminate them both. And then two more fighters claiming to be "Mega Men" show up. How will Bass be able to fight off several new opponents, every one of them more advanced than he is?


	4. Chapter 4: All Out Brawl!

_**Chapter 4: All-Out Brawl!**_

Vile was hiding out in an old European castle. This was too easy, Bass knew. Vile couldn't hide out even in the darker parts of the cities, due to the fact that he was a Reploid. But hiding out in the middle of nowhere wasn't helping him, either, the sheer remoteness allowed Bass to isolate his energy signal all too easily. Now, for the hard part.

The place was huge, but more or less completely forgotten. In fact, it had been built way out in the countryside. In the middle of a swamp. Apparently, it had been touted as the strongest castle in Europe due to the fact that it HAD been built in a swamp and was still standing (After 2 previous attempts), but nobody seemed to have cared.

Of course, Bass simply blew up the front door and walked in.

Vile was sitting on an old throne which was covered in all sorts of vegetation. And the occasional animal dropping. He laughed, as Bass walked in. "I was getting bored. Someone to kill, at last…"

Bass armed his buster. "Sorry, but I'm afraid I'm here to take you out."

This was met with an even greater fit of laugher. Vile pointed at Bass. "You're either brave or stupid to take me on. I know who you are… And really, you're not even a challenge. I know how to fight someone who uses a buster."

Bass grinned, as he didn't hesitate to pull out the Fortissimo. "Actually, I have a new weapon I'd like to try out. And I've already come up with a strategy."

"Come on, then, show me!"

Responding to Vile's challenge, Bass thrust the Fortissimo at him, extending it. Vile was almost skewered, ducking in order to avoid the attack, and noticing that the pole had smashed through the top of the throne. And it was still glowing. "Aw, crap..."

Bass chuckled, as he brought the Fortissimo down, slicing through the throne. Vile clumsily managed to get off before he was sliced in two, and stumbled away from the throne, before trying to boost into the air. Bass quickly withdrew the Fortissimo, and thrust at Vile once more, and whistled. Vile barely managed to dodge, as he tried to fly, but he was immediately tackled to the ground by Treble, whom had been waiting for his master's signal – the whistle. Speaking of that, Bass had actually managed to figure out how to whistle on his own, after a while of wondering how Proto Man was able to do it.

Vile immediately tried to push the canine off, but as he did, he was blasted by Treble's mouth cannon. He lost his balance, and stumbled, the wall right next to him stopping him from falling. That's when he found the Fortissimo right at his throat. Bass laughed. "Gotcha."

"I'm afraid that won't be so easy, Bass."

Bass and Vile noticed that a few ranged attacks were coming right towards them, and separated. Vile wall-jumped to avoid them, and Bass simply dashed backwards. An energy slash, two full-charged buster shots, and an ice dragon rushed past. This was the work of three newcomers, as Bass could tell. He looked to the side, to see Harpunia, Fefnir, and Leviathan standing a few meters away. He swore under his breath. Another few more to deal wi-

"Hot."

Fefnir chuckled. "Oh, you like my shots, eh?"

Harpunia noted, "I think he was talking about Leviathan…"

Indeed, Bass found himself staring at Leviathan. He couldn't believe it. This was the first time he was going to fight a woman. And this girl… She was HOT. She had curves in all the right places. Her blue outfit was cute, too. However, he realised that Leviathan was pointing her halberd at him. "Great. We're fighting a pervert."

Bass choked. "PERVERT? Nonsense! I was… Surprised. I've never fought a woman before. Especially not one as beautiful as you."

Leviathan blushed, but Harpunia interrupted. "In that case, I'm sure you'll have no problem fighting her while Fenfir and I take out Vile, as per Master X's orders."

Bass growled. So these guys were X's goons? As if he didn't have enough trouble… Still, he knew it was a good situation for him. If those two could deal with Vile, and he would take out Leviathan… He would be able to fight off the other two if they were damaged. Leviathan pouted, as she twirled her halberd. "This'll be fun."

Harpunia and Fefnir went at Vile, the latter firing off charged shots at the Maverick. Vile tried to run, but was cornered by Harpunia's two blades. However, Vile was able to drop an explosive to keep the green reploid off him.

Bass extended the Fortissimo, which formed a halberd similar to Leviathan's, which was stopped by Leviathan's Halberd. However, Bass twisted the Fortissimo quickly, nearly forcing the girl's weapon out of her hands. Leviathan broke away, and whacked the Fortissimo away from her. Bass swung round, and Leviathan ducked to avoid the blade. Bass followed up by bringing down the blade on top of her, which she blocked… And was forced onto her bum. Bass was cautious - this was too easy.

He got a lot closer, to make it easier to attack quickly. He tried stabbing at her, which she barely blocked with her own weapon. "Dammit, fight harder!"

Bass stabbed again, Leviathan blocking, then countering with a slash of her own. Bass side-stepped the strike, and jumped back to stab from a distance. Leviathan clumsily ducked the strike, and dashed forward, stopping as she slashed. Bass noticed that she was unable to move properly while using her weapon.

Another quick stab, and it tore right through Leviathan's waist. She screamed, as Bass tore the weapon back out. "Stop! I'm not that good outside of water!"

That explained it. Leviathan was a water-based fighter, her fighting ability was noticeably diminished on dry land. Bass growled. "I hate fighting opponents who can't fight at their best…"

He knocked Leviathan's halberd out of her hands, and thrust the blade right up to her neck barely stopping short of stabbing into it. "You know, I'd kill you right now if you had been able to fight harder. That, and you're too damn pretty to die like this."

Leviathan found herself blushing again, as Bass put down the Fortissimo. Leviathan smiled… As she dashed up, and kissed him. Right on the lips. And Bass was frozen, just like she expected. However, when he raised her knee sharply, she didn't expect Bass to break away, avoid the nutsack-kick, and cheekily reached out to grope Leviathan's right breast. Now she was SERIOUSLY blushing. And very embarrassed. Bass chuckled, "Saw that coming from a mile away, and figured a little payback was in order."

Leviathan snapped, in her embarrassment, pushing Bass away, "You… Bastard!"

Bass rolled his eyes. "Just be a good girl and get on the sidelines. You're no use to anyone like that."

Leviathan pouted, as she picked up her halberd, and walked away to a safe distance. "Harpunia and Fefnir won't be as easy as I was, you know. And I think they're done toying with Vile."

Bass looked over, and his jaw dropped. Vile was lying on his front, having been beaten into the ground by his opponents, who were both on top of him. Harpunia scoffed, as he stood right next to him, "That was pathetically easy. You're getting sloppy, Vile."

Vile snapped back, with Fefnir sitting on his head. "Oh, shut up! You got lucky, with your tactics and your two-man advantage…"

Bass knew he was screwed. If those two could beat up Vile so easily, how could he win? However, an unexpected surprise occurred, with Harpunia barely able to side-step a scythe that came flying by, and slicing straight through the nearby wall. Harpunia armed his two blades again. "Who dares…?"

He noticed a figure appear right where the scythe had stopped, and dashed at him, slashing. The figure in purple armor blocked with his scythe, which, on second inspection, was of the beam-type. The purple reploid grinned, as he forced Harpunia off. "What do we have here? The original forms of Models H, F, and L?"

Fefnir got off Vile, avoiding a bouncing ice statue. "WHAT THE HECK?!?"

In midair, seemingly appearing behind a spinning staff, a girl in light-blue armor. Anyone wouldn't help but notice her rather large helmet, which actually had three parts to it, the portions off to the sides were detachable. Bass' jaw dropped again. She, like Leviathan, was gorgeous. "What's with these hot girls showing up to fight today?!?"

The purple reploid broke off, and he leapt into the air, landing next to where the girl had floated down to. He pulled a sadistic grin. "How impolite of us not to introduce ourselves. I am Prometheus, and this is my sister, Pandora."

Fenfir snorted, "What, are you both Greek?"

Pandora explained. "We're just here to enjoy ourselves… And make a killing. Literally..."

"Speaking of which… I intend to make one, myself. And this time, I'm no pushover!"

Vile had gotten up, despite the damage he had taken. "Time for round 2."

Everyone who was still in the fight, prepared to fight. Bass tried to calm himself. He needed to fight hard… There were two pairs working together, and he and Vile would be easy pickings. Only Treble was there to support him…

"_That's right… Treble's still here! He's my partner, after all," _Bass thought to himself, as he nodded to Treble, whom had been staying on the sidelines. Understanding his master's wishes, Treble walked up to his side, and growled, as he prepared his claws.

Then, it all went nuts. Prometheus suddenly dashed towards Bass, while Pandora summoned another ice statue to cover him. Bass held his ground, blocking Prometheus' strike with the Fortissimo, literally forming a scythe blade to block. Prometheus went for a second strike. Blocked again. Bass made sure to create a second scythe blade on the other end.

That was one move he was fortunate to have made. Prometheus suddenly unleashed a spinning blade attack, which Bass had to counter with one of his own – the double blades helped fend Prometheus off. Prometheus was suddenly blasted by Treble, before being slashed by Bass. Prometheus groaned, as he backed off. "You're tougher than you look. Pandora!"

Pandora appeared in front of Bass, as Prometheus dashed away. "I will destroy you…"

"Don't count on it."

Bass went for Pandora, but Pandora disappeared again behind her spinning staff. She re-appeared above Bass, the two detachable portions of her helmet hovering off and firing ice and electric projectiles. Bass kept dashing to avoid the shots, and he whistled. The two portions were shot out of the air by Treble's mouth cannon, and Bass double-jumped high enough to slash at Pandora. The girl gasped in pain as the Fortissimo stuck her across the chest, damaging her. She had an excuse to flee, when Fefnir came along, firing his dual cannons.

Bass and Treble nimbly avoided the shots, looking for an opportunity to strike. Fefnir didn't seem to be giving them any opportunity. "Come on, then! Let's see that skill of yours!"

Bass then noticed that Fefnir had two fatal weaknesses – he was unable to move when firing, considering the power behind his arm cannons, and he also could only fire from one cannon at a time. He looked over at Treble, who was weaving around the shots and getting closer whenever Fefnir was firing at Bass. Treble had already figured out the weakness. Bass chuckled, as he kept avoiding shots, and waited for the right moment.

Then, Fefnir was blasted by Treble's mouth cannon as the dog got close, then slashed in the chest by his claws. Fefnir stumbled, and growled, "Why you little-"

Then he found himself being slashed in the back, several times. Bass raised the Fortissimo for the final strike, only to be blocked by Harpunia, who kicked Treble away. "Fefnir, can you still fight?"

Fefnir nodded. "I'll need to use a portion of my sub tank, but I'll be fine… I think we underestimated this guy, Harpunia… Hah… This reminds of fighting Zero. These guys are tough!"

"I can see that. I'm more suited to fighting him right now, than you or Leviathan. Take care of the others."

Fefnir dashed away, as Bass and Harpunia broke off. The green reploid pointed at Bass with one of his two swords. "Make no mistake, you may have bested Leviathan and Fefnir, but now you fight me, and I will not be bested so easily."

Harpunia immediately took to the air, and came down on Bass, slashing rapidly, but elegantly. Bass barely managed to block the strikes. This guy was a pro. Bass needed to even the odds. "TREBLE!"

Treble nodded to his master, and they both leaped into the air, Treble landing on his master's shoulders. Bass felt a surge of power rise within him, as the two merged. Now with purple armor and wings, Bass was now airborne like Harpunia, who was not impressed. "Very interesting, but you gain no advantage from this."

"I know, but I removed yours!"

Bass and Harpunia rushed at each other, going all-out with their attacks, which collided hard and fast. Two furies in the air constantly attacking and defending each other, it was a sight to see. Bass' lack of short-ranged combat skills were made up for the Fortissimo's incredible versatility, and made him a match for the battle-hardened Harpunia, who was twirling in the air with his dual blades. Eventually, both fighters were forced to the ground, their blades clashing against each other.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…"

They both looked to the side… And promptly blown clear of each other by a blast of energy that sent them both crashing into the opposite walls. Even Fefnir, Vile, Prometheus and Pandora were caught off guard by the sudden interruption. Out of the smoke, emerged a figure, floating a foot above the ground, most his body covered by a brown cloak. His head was in full view, though, and Bass couldn't believe his eyes. "You… You're me!"

Indeed, this figure had head-fins exactly like Bass, though the gem on his forehead was cross-shaped. 'Bass' looked over at the robot. "So it seems. I suppose you can call me "BassEXE"."

Bass's head dropped… And he laughed. "Oh, of course… If Mega Man had a digital version, why not me? So, I suppose you have an operator…?"

"No. I detest the thought of being the tool of a human."

BassEXE raised his arm, as it charged. Bass took the hint, and took to the air, as armed his buster, and fired. The blast completely destroyed the wall. Fefnir's jaw dropped. "HOLY CRAP! We're SCREWED!"

Harpunia roared, "Don't come to conclusions so quickly! We can beat him, we have the numbers!"

Fefnir nodded, firing two charged shots. BassEXE created a shield that deflected both attacks, and struck back with a saber, knocking Harpunia away, with a surprising amount of damage. "Is this all you've got?"

Prometheus leaped into the air, summoning four flaming skulls that fired purple flames at BassEXE. However, the NetNavi dodged each projectile, charged another buster shot… And blasted Prometheus, skulls and all, straight through a wall. Pandora had the drones that she detached created an electric field around BassEXE, which closed in on him. However, the NetNavi simply formed a shield strong enough to completely overwhelm the field. immediately blasted the drones away, then followed up with a dark projectile that knocked Pandora away.

Then another two of Fefnir's blasts actually smashed through the shield and damaged the NetNavi. Fefnir laughed. "How do you like them apples?"

"I'm firing my lazor."

"Wha?"

BassEXE suddenly created a cannon in the shape of a head… Bass recognized it. It seemed to be Treble's head, though darker and more… Digital. Fefnir laughed sheepishly, as he realised how much power this cannon was going to unleash. "Aw, fu-"

**BOOM. **The blast was powerful enough to knock Fefnir off his feet, and straight through several walls. And he was heavily damaged, to boot – and unconscious. BassEXE chuckled. "I always wanted to say that, especially considering how fighting these days is just so dull…"

Harpunia's look was now of fear. "Not even Omega was this powerful!"

"Hahaha! He hasn't met my little friend, though!"

Vile suddenly came forward, with a Ride Armor at his disposal, dashing forward and grabbing BassEXE. The NetNavi groaned a bit, but he regained his composure, and chuckled. "I'm afraid this won't help."

He charged again… And the hand exploded, much to Vile's bewilderment. armed his saber, and sliced clean through the Ride Armor, just as Vile managed to get out. Vile was about to fight on his own, but simply punched him in the face and blasted him away with a buster blast.

The NetNavi looked at his robotic counterpart, who was staring in awe. "So, you do not possess the same power as I…"

Bass growled, and charged at BassEXE. "Power isn't everything!"

He brought down the Fortissimo, and choked, as caught it with his hand, covered in energy to protect him. But his resolve hardened up. "I… I won't lose to the likes of you! I AM THE ONLY BASS!"

BassEXE found himself no longer able to hold the Fortissimo, as purple flames emerged from the weapon, reacting to Bass' fury. Bass followed up with several strikes, the last stabbing straight through the torso. At this point, BassEXE felt something strange. There was a strange presence inside the Fortissimo… A powerful one. He backed off, forcing the Fortissimo out of him, and covered his wounds. "Is there… A sentient program inside your weapon?"

Bass raised an eyebrow. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Nevermind… It seems this weapon has chosen you as its master… Use it well."

The NetNavi immediately disappeared. Bass turned around, and noted that Harpunia had already escaped with Fefnir and Leviathan. Prometheus and Pandora were recovering. Vile was getting back up, too. Bass chuckled. "And Wily said I was a failure… What a fool."

Prometheus heard this, and smiled. "So… You hate your creator as well?"

"More than you know…"

Vile remarked, "Tell me about it. I've been waiting for Sigma to take over so I could kill him and take over instead. But I'm getting sick of him constantly failing…"

Bass was intrigued. Each of these guys had a grudge on their master. Looks like they had something in common, after all. Prometheus suddenly noted, "Seeing as we've got something in common… Maybe we can help each other out."

Bass liked that idea. A lot. If he was able to off Wily without having to do it himself, he would be free from the old bastard at last! "Alright, then. What do you propose?"

Vile suggested, "I think... We should meet up somewhere, later. At an agreed location, in normal clothing."

Bass nodded. "I've got clothing of my own. Can you guys get your own?"

Pandora nodded. "That will be simple..."

"Alright, then. I know a place. A cafe in the city. I'll report to Wily that Vile has been dealt with... And we get ready."

Prometheus nodded. "We will."

The reploid siblings and Vile teleported out. Bass turned on his communicator. "Hey, Wily? Vile is out of the picture."

_To Be Continued..._

_**In The Next Chapter:**_

The Guardians report to X on the sudden appearance of Prometheus, Pandora, and Bass' new weapon. This causes concern... And to complicate matters, two kids from even FURTHER into the future show up, claiming to be Mega Men possessing Biometals X and Z. What the heck is going on?!?


	5. Chapter 5: The Biometal Mega Men

_**Author's Notes: **_Despite my lack of updates, amazingly, I still get reviews. I really gotta update more. I've mostly been occupied by other things, including creating my crossover fan-game, _Aria of Destiny, _which stars a few Mega Man characters. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter. By the way, I updated the previous chapter, since I discovered only now that for some reason, the name "Bass . EXE" (without spaces) gets removed for some reason.

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_**Chapter 5: The Biometal Mega Men, Vent, Aile, Grey and Ashe**_

Leviathan helped Harpunia carry a severely damaged Fefnir into the Light household. Everyone else was surprised at the sheer damage each one of them had sustained. X blinked, "How could Vile do so much damage?!?"

Harpunia coughed. "It's wasn't just Vile... Others showed... A robot named Bass, reploid siblings by the names of Prometheus and Pandora... And this "BassEXE", he did most of the damage..."

Hub groaned. "Of all Navis... How did Bass get a physical form?"

Dr. Light sighed, noting, "Last night, I discovered one of the other versions of your hard-hologram device that had gone missing. It was a prototype devised around Bassinium – such a power source is powerful, but can be unstable."

Fefnir chuckled, "Explains the massive amount of power he was outputting!"

Lan laughed sheepishly. "If only it was that simple... He's an incredibly powerful solo NetNavi. He has a Get ability, being able to absorb data, that he's used to get a lot of power, over the years..."

Proto Man crossed his arms, grumbling. "That's the last thing we need..."

Dr. Light nodded, before advising, "I think it's a good idea to take a breather. I will attend to the guardians with Ciel and Proto Man, I suggest you go out someplace... I don't know, a cafe?"

Lan grinned, "Hey, sounds good to me."

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Bass was outside the cafe, helmetless, letting his purple hair flow forward, covering his left eye slightly. What he was wearing was surprisingly simple, a black shirt with a skull on the front and a pair of dark yellow pants. Then he saw his companions arrive. First up was apparently Vile, who had slicked-back black hair and a scar over his right eye. Seemingly uncharacteristic of him was his buisness suit. "I never thought you'd actually wear a buisness suit, not to mention look good in one."

Vile smirked, as he strolled past. "For fooling everyone else, it works."

Next came the bishouen Prometheus, who had blue hair that flowed back like a cape, and his black attire was reminiscant of Viral from Gurren Lagann. Bass chuckled at the hairstyle, right up until he noticed Pandora, who made his jaw drop. Her green hair that curled around to her chin on both sides and was even wearing a blue hoodie, covering what seemed to be a c-cup bust, and a matching pair of pants, made Bass speechless, because to him, she was flat-out gorgeus. She blinked, asking, "Is there something wrong?"

"Uh... No, no! You look... Stunning..."

Pandora blushed a bit, before Prometheus pulled Bass inside. "You start hitting on my sister so soon, and I'll rip your face off. I mean it."

The interior of the cafe made it look a bit more like a diner, the sort of place teens would go to. The group sat themselves down at a table, right next to a pair of brown-haired kids who were talking about something. The kids caught Prometheus' eye, and his jaw dropped. He looked back at the others, and whispered, "Dammit, bad time..."

Vile blinked. "What, a couple of kids?"

"Not just a couple of kids. Those two, Vent and Aile, they're Mega Men, like Pandora and I, except they're 'good guys'. Younger than they should be, though. As long as they don't notice us-"

"May I take your order?"

Prometheus looked up at the blue-haired girl with the ponytail, wearing a red headband that formed the ponytail and the cafe's uniform, and holding a notepad. "Oh, hey, Ashe. Uh, just a strawberry milkshake for me and sis, and-Wait, ASHE?!"

Prometheus choked, and Pandora recognized her too. The girl recognized him purely on voice alone, and freaked. "Prometheus?! Pandora?! How...? Wha..."

Bass interuppted her, asking, "Can we just get on with it and pretend this never happened? Just get me and mr. Fancy here a coffee each."

Ashe nodded, shaking a bit, as she jotted down the order, and dashed away. Vile asked, "Another one?"

Bass sighed. "Great, another hottie, and she happens to be on the other side. Lovely."

Ashe stopped at the table with the kids, taking a breather, before asking again, "May I take your... Order?" Both Vent and Aile looked at her, saying, "Chocolate shake, please!" In tandem, and then proceeded to chuckle about the sudden coincidence. Ashe looked like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "Okay... Two chocolate shakes, coming right up..."

She stopped at the counter, where a young man with grey hair and another uniform was waiting. "I've got more orders here, Grey... You're not going to believe what I just saw!"

"So, who is on our hit list first?" Vile asked, sitting back, his stare shifting between his new allies. Bass replied, "Wily and 'Dr. Weil'. I never liked Wily, and I don't trust Weil. I should've iced Wily ages ago."

Pandora suggested, "Then, if we figure out how to travel through time, we can destroy Sigma, and then Albert."

"Next question, is how. Wily and Weil will be easy kills, I can break you guys in from the inside and we kill two birds with on stone." Bass explained, "From there-"

Vile's eyes widened, as he cut off Bass, "We've got more company." The rest of the Mega Men entered the cafe, including Roll, Ciel and Lan, walked in, wearing casual clothing, and Hub was disguised by removing his helmet and wearing similar clothing to Rock. Zero simply didn't have a helmet and was wearing a red hoodie. Bass groaned. "I swear, I didn't know they were coming too."

"Hey, Bass."

Bass was absolutely stunned. Rock had just addressed him as the group sat down at a nearby table. X had also noticed Vile, remarking, "Looking classy there, Vile."

Vile grumbled, "Oh, rub it in, why don't ya."

Lan asked, "And I suppose those two next to ya are Prometheus and Pandora?"

Prometheus snapped, "Oh, go tell everyone who we are, why don't-" "Prometheus and Pandora?!" "Oh, for the love of..." Prometheus realised that they had gotten the attention of Vent and Aile, who were both surprised, out of their seats, and that point, everyone was expecting a brawl. Right up until Ashe and Grey started serving the drinks like nothing was happening, which proceeded to both cool down the situation and bewilder everyone at the same time. "Ashe? Grey? What are you...?"

Ashe winked at Prometheus. "Just a 'sorry' gift for leaving you two for dead. Sorry about that."

Lan immediately demanded, "What the heck is going on here, who are these two, who are those kids over there, why aren't we fighting, and why is Vile wearing a buisness suit?!"

Pandora asked, "Ashe, Grey, why are you two working here?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, TOO MANY QUESTIONS!" Grey gasped, which allowed everyone to converge around a single table, and Ashe and he took the time to serve the other drinks, before taking their lunch break, immediately changing into their normal clothes, Grey with his odd jumpsuit and those two wires hanging out his back, and Ashe with her orange top and more or less nothing else other than her jumpsuit and shoes. He then continued, "I'm Grey, this is Ashe. I'm a reploid, she's human (and we're working here because we need the zenny), and I those two, I think... Vent and Aile?"

Vent blinked, "How do you know our names?"

Ashe responded, "We come from different times, Grey and I know you two when you're a few years older."

X blinked, "So many time travellers and even dimensional travellers. This seems way too much of a coincidence to me. So, which time period do you guys come from?"

Aile smiled. "Let's see... Alright, it's a couple hundred years after the destruction of Neo-Arcadia. Humans and reploids have made peace by giving reploids mortality, and cybernetically enhancing humans. And things are mostly peaceful."

This allowed a sigh of relief from both X and Zero. Grey interuptted, laughing sheepishly, "But... The maverick problem is still around."

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-" X cut himself and Zero off, asking, "So it's still there, but not as bad, right?"

Ashe nodded. "The mavericks attacks are normally random and disorganized. However, there are times when they're united under leadership, but it's usually in secret. A few years ago, the CEO of Slither Inc. was revealled to be the mastermind behind 10 years of maverick attacks to change the victims into cyber-elves, and use their fear and pain to power a piece of Model W... Oh, that's right, we haven't told you about Biometal, have we?"

Everyone except the four were clueless, so a small, face-like object floated up near Ashe, with a slightly triangular shape, and it had clearly-defined "eyes". "Meet Model A. Grey and I use him to fight. By Mega-Merging, something we can't do right now, but it gives us armor and more powerful weapons."

Model A spoke, "Hiya! Nice ta meet you all!" freaking the others out. "MEGAMERGE!" Two voices shouted out, and in a flash, both Vent and Aile were wearing armor not unlike Zero's. They immediately changed back, and Lan grinned, "COOL! I so want one of those!"

"Not on your life, kid," Prometheus replied, "They can only be used by 'Mega Men', those who have HIS blood. Master Albert's blood. And that bastard ain't even alive in this time period."

Ashe groaned, "What did I say about not transforming right now? Great, I'm baby-sitting kids who I remember being older than me..."

Vent and Aile laughed sheepishly, as their biometals floated next to them. X and Zero recognized them both, the latter asking, "Are those Biometals made in the likeness of X and I?"

"Not quite," Model X replied. "Model Z and I were in fact made FROM you. In a sense, we're your future selves."

Hub interuppted, "Before we go on, why are we not fighting those four yet? Having a conversation involving our enemies sounds a little odd."

Bass sighed. "Look, we're not here to fight. What we came here to talk about didn't involve taking you guys down, but we're not saying what exactly it is. So what's this nonsense about Master... Albert? Albert, as in, Albert Wily?"

Grey replied, "Coincidence. The three sages that came together to establish peace after the destruction of Neo-Arcadia were all named after three of the greatest roboticists of this period – Thomas Light, Albert Wily and Mikhal Cossack. It just happened that history repeated itself and Master Albert was the one who tried to reset the world by using his own Biometal, Model W, which he created the "ultimate biometal", Oroboros, from. Albert was the original creator of biometal."

Vent added, "The 'sis' of a friend of ours modified the Biometal system to introduce double-mega merge..." He looked at Ciel. "Actually, she looked at lot like you."

Ciel blinked. "I'm Dr. Ciel. But if what you say is true and you from from ceturies after my time, then I can't be that person."

"Still a possibility," Zero noted. "Weil was able to keep himself alive with that special body."

"In any case," Ashe admitted, "Albert staged a 'Game of Destiny' to allow himself to gain incredible power, deluded himself into thinking he was a god, and tried to reset the world. Grey and I stopped him. Still... He created Grey as another body for him, and I'm practically his great-great-great granddaughter. Prometheus and Pandora here tried to stop us along the way, but they were really trying to get at Albert. And failed."

Prometheus snapped, "Hey, we didn't know he'd use that other body!"

Grey sighed, and looked at his watch. "Oh. Our lunch break is over. We gotta get back to work."

Bass got out of his chair, handing over some zenny. "And we're outta here, here's the payment for the drinks."

Rock smiled. "Well... You two can come back to Dr. Light's later, we'll talk more about all this there. I'm sure Light will want to see your Biometals, he's gonna love this!"

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"Absolutely fascinating!"

Light was actually more interested in the cybernetics inside Ashe, Vent and Aile, as opposed to the Biometals. He showed his true expertise in human biology, which he explained helps in creating human-like robots. The images that came up on his computer showed the inside of their bodies with both nerves and the cybernetics. "The cybernetics are not crude and cyborg-ish, but rather a second layer to the natural nerves, organs, tissue, blood vessels and organs. It helps to increase reaction timing, it keeps the person alive longer even with serious injuries, and those devices on their ears interface their cybernetics to allow for hearing capabilities that no normal human is capable of. And if necessary or if the person wants to, the cybernetics can be removed."

He turned towards the others, smiling. "Humans and robots living together in harmony... That is my greatest wish. But for humans and robots to become one and the same... That was not what I intended, nor anticipated. But mere glimpses into the future have given me great insight into the barriers that my wish from being fufilled... And potentially, the solutions to them."

He stepped towards Lan, noting, "Lan, I want to ask you something. Navis are not unlike robots, except their existance is in the digital world. Even among the evil operators and their navis, they are capable of working together. Let me ask, how have humans and navis managed to achieve that harmony?"

"It's because of that partnership you described," Lan replied. "Navis are partnered with humans, and through that partnership, they develop bonds, friendships, even like family. They understand each others flaws and help each other through every crisis. Every time Hub and I truly combine our strengths, we're able to gain more power than the sum of our parts!"

Light took those words into his mind, and had a thought. "Interesting. When you think about it, it makes sense. My creations and I are like family, I consider them the children I could never have, and look at us, we're happy together. Wily? He treats his creations like underlings, weapons, a means to an end. And look where it got him. His most powerful creation even rebells against him. If only all of humankind and robots can come to such an understanding... Thank you for the insight, Lan."

He looked at Vent, Aile, Grey and Ashe. "As for you, you can stay here for the time being. I just hope not too many others come along, the guest rooms are already starting to fill up."

Roll spoke up, "At least we have more girls here, this was starting to look like a saussage fest."

Hub poked Lan with his elbow. "You've been eyeing Aile for a while, does she remind you of Mayl, or do you just have a crush?"

This immediately resulted in a flusted Lan, a friendly argument, and Aile giggling all the while. Ashe remarked, "At least he's your age."

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"Remind me why the heck you called me down here, doc?"

Proto Man looked at the screen, showing images of apparent blood tests and DNA. It was night, and everyone else except Light, who was standing next to him, had gone to bed. "Well, I needed someone who doesn't sleep for once to talk to... You see these blood tests? Since I heard that Biometal can only be used by those with Albert's blood, I decided to run some tests. The results have been rather fascinating, to say the least."

"Let me guess, this 'Master Albert' is Wily?"

Light blinked at him. "How-"

"Look, doc, anyone with half a brain could guess that. Seems way too much of a coincidence. Does this mean I have a great-great-great grand-cousin?"

Light sighed. "Yes. It seems Wily and Master Albert, according to these blood tests, are one and the same. I can only imagine what could drive him to survive for so long, and go so far."

"Huh. I never would have figured Albert used to be that senile old man."

Light and Proto Man looked to the side, to see Ashe at the doorway leading to the bedrooms, wearing her pajamyas, making her c-cup bust plainly obvious. "I heard everything. I was just coming down for a drink. And to be honest, I couldn't care less. What family I had and cared about were killed by mavericks when I was a little girl."

Light was surprised to hear this bit of info. "Oh... I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's alright." Ashe got herself a glass of water, taking a sip. "I got over it and made something of my life on my own. And honestly, I think my parents, if they were still alive, would be proud of me. I just want to travel the world, now. But you know what I think? After talking to everyone else, I think the main problem doesn't lie within humanity or robots as a whole. Sure, the first reploids went maverick on their own, but that's because reploids were imperfect. Everything else was started by one person. First Wily, then Sigma, then Weil, Copy X, and then Albert and Serpent. And it all began with Wily. No matter what you do, with those sorts of guys around, you'll never get that harmony you wanted."

Silence. Light and Proto Man just couldn't reply to what Ashe had said. Ashe finished her drink, and noted, "Look, I'm sorry if I sounded harsh-"

"No, please, you were perfectly correct," Light interuppted. "Not everyone is good, I realise that. But I hope... That someday, perhaps Wily can be placed behind bars for good, or even convinced to see the error of his ways for real. Maybe we could even change the future as we know it."

Ashe smiled, walking back to her room. "I hope so. Night, doc, Proto."

"Wait, Ashe." Ashe stopped, poking her head out. Light smiled. "You do have family here. Proto Man, Rock, Roll and the first generation of robot masters were created by me and Wily. In a sense, they're your relatives. But how you view them is entirely up to you."

Ashe grinned, as she left. "Well... It wouldn't hurt to have siblings."

A minute passed without a word said. Proto Man whistled. "Heh. I never would have thought."

Light nodded. "Indeed. It's amazing what insight this day has brought us, isn't it?"

"No, I'm amazed that she actually has breasts. That orange top must be really thick. Or her jumpsuit just tight. Hey, why are you looking at me like that?"

_**To Be Continued**_

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_**Author's notes: **_Yes, Ashe is my other favourite Mega Man character, why do you ask? But really, it's fun to imagine the various Mega Man characters who don't wear casual clothing wearing such clothing. The reason I gave Pandora that outfit was because the word "Hinata" just came into my head when thinking about it and refused to let go. And I couldn't see Vile in anything other than a buisness suit for some reason, because it just seemed cool to me. Perhaps it was the "Jango Fett" factor, a man who looked respectable and generally polite yet a killer when he puts the armor on. Prometheus without the helmet just reminded me of Viral, and Gurren Lagann is just plain awesome anyway.


End file.
